Engine-starting mechanism.



A. F. WILLIAMS.

ENGINE STARTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 2. I9I6.

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. F. WILLIAMS.

ENGINE STARTING MECHANISM.

APPUCATION FILED OCT. 2. I916,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTHONY F. WILLIAMS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH EAST ELEC- TRIC CGMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,

A oon'ronnrron or NEW YORK.

ENGINE-$TARTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

Application filed October 2, 1916. Serial No. 123,295.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY F. WIL- LIAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe "and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engine-Starting Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

' exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same.

This invention relates to mechanism employed in connection with the internal-combustion engine of an automobile, for the purpose of starting the engine. The objectof the invention is to produce a mechanism, of simple and compact form, having provision for convenient attachment to the front of the automobile in connection with which it isused, and having also convenient and effective means for adjusting the sprocket-chain or other gearing by which the prime mover of the starting-mechanism is connected with the engine-shaft.

Another! object of the invention is to provide improved means for preventing the transmission of pulsatory motion from the engine to the starter-generator.

To the foregoing ends the invention con .sists in the mechanism hereinafter described, as it is defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front-elevation of engine-starting mechanism embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side-elevation, partly in vertical section, of the engine-startingmechanism on by mechanism including chain-and-sprocket gearing. The motor may be described as a starter-generator, since it acts both as a motor and as a generator, and it is shown as of the inclosed type, having an armature 5, a.

cylindrical field-ring or casing f5, and front and rear heads 7 and 8, respectively, which close the ends of the casing, these parts being all of a well known form except as to certain details of the rear head 8, which will be presently described.

The armature-shaft 10 is mounted, near its rear end, in a ball-bearing 9 seated in the head 8, and the shaft carries, at its rear extremity, a sprocket-wheel 11. This wheel is connected, by a chain 12, with a larger sprocket-wheel 13, thus providing for a gearreduction between the starter-generator and the engine. The sprocket-wheel 13 is mounted on a countershaft 14, and this countershaft has bearings in a gear-casing 15 which incloses the gearing and also provides a support for thestarter-generator. The lower portion 16 of the gear-casing is removable, to provide access to the gearing, but the casing, in its normal closed condition, provides an oil-tight receptacle by which the lubrication of the/gearing is facilitated.

The apparatus is mounted upon and fixed to the frame of the automobile at the front thereof, and as a convenient means for this purpose the gear-casing 15 is provided with rearWardly-extending arms 17, which are clamped to a transverse frame-member 18 of the automobile, this frame-member being that which is commonly located beneath the radiator. The arms are fixed to the frame-member by means of U-shaped clips 19, provided with nuts 20 which bear against the upper surfaces of the arms.

The gear-casing is so formed and mounted that the countershaft 14 is in at least approximate alinement with'the forward extremity of the crank-shaft 21 of the engine, and the countershaft and the crankshaft are connected by a short drive-shaft 22. This drive-shaft is provided with longitudinal teeth or flutings 23, which engage corresponding flutings in a socket formed in the rear end of the counter shaft. The parts are fitted with sufficient looseness to provide for slight inaccuracies in alinement.

'The rear end of the drive-shaft is connected in a similar manner with a shell 24, this shell being fixed to the crank-shaft 21 by means of a transverse pin 25. .In Fig. 2 the shell 24 is shown of such a form that it may take the place of the fan-driving pulley frequently mounted on the forward end of the crank-shaft.

In 0rder-t0 take up endwise play of the drive-shaft andprevent rattling,a compression-spring 26 is introduced between the countershaft and the forward end of the drive-shaft.

Provision for adjustment of the tension of'the chain 12 is made by providing for vertical sliding movement of the head 8 upon the forward surface of the gear-casing 15. For this purpose the head is provided with a flat rearward bearing-surface, and is extended to an approximately square form so as to provide four corner-lugs 27-. These lugs are slotted vertically to receive clamp-screws 28, and these screws are threaded into a dished flange or enlargement 30 at the upper forward portion of the gear-casing. An adjusting-screw 29 passes loosely through the part 30' and is threaded into the head 8. hen it is necessary to tighten the chain 12, in order to take up wear, the clamp-screws 28 are loosened and the adjusting-screw 29 is turned to raise the starter-generator bodily to the required extent, and the generator is then again fixed firmly in place by tightening the clamp-screws. To prevent accidental movement of the adjusting-screw it is preferably locked normally against rotation by a sheet-metal locking-device 31 of ordinary form.

When the starter-generator is acting as a motor, to start the engine, a positive connection' between the motor and the engine is desirable, owing to the considerable torque which has to be transmitted. When the starter-generator is being driven as a generator, on the other hand, less positive connection is desirable, owing to the fact that the generator is frequently so driven when the engine is running at a speed so low that its movement is not smooth and uniform, but is more or less pulsatory owing to the intermittent action of the several engine-cylinders. For the purpose just described the sprocket-wheel 13 is not rigidly connected with the countershaft 14, but is made in annular form, as shown particularly in Fig. 3, and is mounted loosely upon a generally circular member 32, which is fixed to the countershaft and which constitutes the inner member of a roller-wedge clutch. in the usual manner to receive the springpressed rollers 33, and these rollers bear against the smooth inner surface of the gear 13. The clutch-parts are so arranged as to couple the gear 13 unyieldinglv with the countershaft in the direction of motion in which the gear 13 constitutes the driving member in starting the engine, but when the operation of the engine commences the inner clutch-member 32 may overrun the "gear 13 in the same direction of motion, so

that the roller-wedge clutch does not act to drive the starter-generator.

The starter-generator is driven, as a generator, through a frictional connection be- The clutch-member 32 is recessed tween the clutch-member 32 and the gear 13. For this purpose the gear is embraced between two sheet-metal disks 34, which have frictional faces on their peripheries bearing against the front and rear surfaces of the gear. The disks are connected together by screws 35 passing through openings in the clutch-member 32, and the frictional pressure is maintained and regulated by compression-springs 36, which are coiled around the screws 35 and seated in thimbles 37 mounted in the forward friction-disk, as shown in Fig. 2. The friction may be regulated by turning the screws 35 inwardly or outwardly. The parts just described are so adjusted that they afford a sufficiently firm connection between the countershaft and the gear 13 to cause the starter-generator to be driven steadily at normal enginespeeds, but the arrangement is sufliciently yielding to slip intermittently whenever the engine-speed becomes so reduced as to be pulsatory, and thus the transmission of shocks through the gearing to the generator is prevented.

In case of failure of the starting-mechanism to operate it is desirable to have provision for starting the engine by hand. For this purpose the forward end of the countershaft 14 projects from the gear-casing 15 and is provided with a cross-pin 38, so that a starting-crank 39 of ordinary form may be engaged with the countershaft. This forward end of the countershaft may benormally covered by means of a removable cap 40. The starter-generator constitutes a convenient support for an outboard bearing for the crank. For this purpose a Ushaped sheet-metal member 41 is employed, this member being pivoted, at one end, ona screw 42 fixed in the head 7 of the motor-casing. The other end of the member 41 is slotted to embrace a thumbscrew 43. When the crank is to be introduced the thumb-screw is loosened and the member 41 is swung downwardly to receive the shank of the crank, and the member 41 is then replaced in the position of Fig. 1 and fixed by the thumb-screw.

For convenience in mounting the numberplate of the vehicle, the casing-member 16 maybe provided with threaded openings 44 to receive screws by which the numberplate is fixed in place.

I claim:

1. Engine-starting apparatus having, in

combinationf-a gear-casing; a countershaft the countershaft with the engine-shaft; a

dynamo-electric machine having a casing; means for attachlng the dynamo-casing removably to the front of the gear-casing eccentrically with respect to the countershaft; and gearing connecting the countershaft with the rear end of the armature-shaft of the dynamo-electric machine, said gearing being inclosed in the gear-casing.

2. Engine-starting apparatus having, in combinationfa gear-casing; a countershaft journaled in the gear-casing; means for fastening the gear-casing to the frame of a motor-vehicle, at the front thereof, with the countershaft in approximate alinement with the engine-shaft of the vehicle; means for connecting the countershaft with the engineshaft; a dynamo-electric machine having a casing which is mounted on the front of the gear-casing eccentrically with respect to the countershaft; and chain-and-sprocket gearing inclosed in the gear-casing and connecting the countershaft with the rear end of the armature-shaft of the dynamo; the casing of the dynamo being adjustable upon the gear-casing n a direction to adjust the tension of the sprocket-chain.

3. Engine-starting apparatus having, in combination, a gear-casing; a countersh'aft journaled in the gear-casing and accessible at the front of the casing; means for fastening the gear-casing to a motor-vehicle at the front thereof, with the countershaft in approximate alinement with the engine-shaft of the vehicle; a dynamo-electric machine mounted at the front of the gear-casing, eccentrically with respect to the countershaft; gearing inclosed .in the gear-casing and connecting the armature-shaft of the starter-generator with the counter-shaft; and an outboard bearing, for a startingcrank, carried by the forward end of the dynamo-electric machine in approximate alinement with the countershaft.

4. Engine-starting apparatus having, in combination, a starter-generator; and means, for connecting it with an engine, comprising a one-direction clutch having a combined outer clutch-member and gear-wheel, a shaft connecting the inner clutch-member to the engine, gearing connecting said gearwheel with the starter-generator, a pair of friction-members embracing said gear-wheel on opposite sides and rotatively connected with the inner clutch-member, and springs connecting the friction-members and acting to draw them toward the gear-wheel.

" ANTHONY F. WILLIAMS. 

